Mizu
by Aoifie
Summary: After years of training, the Princess of the Water Tribe is ready to avenge her parents death from the fire nation, but is she willing to risk her life to disguise herself as a fire nation soldier on the Prince of the Fire nations ship? R&R!
1. Battle

Disclaimer: I don't own avatar… sadly. And.. Probably never will o.o

SIDE NOTE: The princess of the water tribe is not Yui. She's actually not in this story. Sorry

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Chapter one Battle 

Roaring sounds of battle raged through the Northern water tribe as the fire nation attacked with no mercy. Cries and scream could only be heard on the bloody battlefield. Screams of victory… cries of terror. The waterbenders fought hard without the moon spirit on their hands. The fire nation had to pick the night of the new moon; when the waterbenders were weak and very much defenseless.

"Mommy." A young cry echoed throughout the kingdom fortress. A small child of three ran every hallway, looking for her mother.

"Yukino!" A soft but ruff voice yelled as she ran to her young. She embraced her child as fire nation soldiers surrounded her. "Stay with me." She whispered in the young girl's ear.

Yukino looked up at her mother with tearful eyes. She was frightened, and sad. The vision of her father lying in a puddle of blood flashed through her head once again causing a shiver down her spine.

"Its the end for you… your highness… Lilia ." A stern vicious voice growled as a man stepped in front of the soldiers. Lord Ozai was his name; the man that was going to end the war victorious. A shadow stood beside the lord as he put his hand on another small child's head. "Today my son, you'll experience what it feels be great." He grinned as his other hand formed a fire spear.

"Laugh all you like… you'll never win." Lilia grimaced. "The spirits will-"

"Will what?" Ozai interrupted. "The spirits are of no help. They would have helped you a long time ago if they cared." He laughed. Lilia began to shake with anger and fear.

"Your wrong.." Lilia hid behind her hair that fell in front of her face. She pulled off a bracelet and set it in front of her. Ozai raised an eye brow as he watched her form a circle in the icy ground around the bracelet.

"What do you think you are doing?" Ozai stepped forward but a burst of ice blocked him. Lilia looked up at the man who over shadowed her. Her eyes glowed the lightest blue as her hair turned from black to snow white. "Impossible." Ozai gasped. The ground shook viciously like an earthquake.

"Mommy…?" Yukino stepped back, only to fall on her rear from a crack. Tears began to leak down the young princess's cheek as she watched her mother transform into this - this spirit.

"Run." Lilia muttered. The glow surrounded her body and lifted her up. "Your wrong Ozai… The spirits has been with me this entire time." She grinned, lifting her hand. Water splashed up, slicing into some of the fire nation soldiers surrounding her. The fortress began to crack, ice dropping from the ceiling above without caution.

"You will leave." Lilia hissed. The ice below her feet began to rise upward as she was lifted out of the fortress. As she rose above her kingdom, she stared down at the battlefield below her. A single tear rolled down the side of her face.

"My god.. She's crazy." Ozai yelled and quickly stepped back. "She's willing to sacrifice her life to save her people!" He turned on his heel. "Prince Zuko… come." He ordered as he ran off. The young prince was about to turn when he noticed a block of ice heading straight down on Yukino. "Look out!" He yelled and quickly ran at her, fire bending the ice into water. He looked down at her teary dark blue eyes, a sudden guilt ran over him. He turned and quickly ran off.

A majority of the fire nation had fled away from the tribe. Lilia had gained enough power to turn the fire soldiers into ice and knew the consequences. "Good bye my daughter… become a great leader for your people." She closed her eyes as the glow spread outward from her body, spreading throughout the entire northern tribe. Her body faded away into the air above, nothing of her was left. The only trace of fire nation soldiers were the statues of ice, and nothing more. It was time to rebuild once again, and hope for the better.

"Princess Yukino!" An older woman yelled as she found the small princess. She fell in front of the child staring at her teary eyes. "Are you alright?"

Yukino looked at the woman. "Aunt Tsubaki." She gasped and clung to her aunt. She cried her heart out into the older woman's clothing. Tsubaki frowned, knowing what had happened to her sister. That day, no one will ever forget the death of the beloved Queen of the water nation and her bravery to her peoples lives.

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End of Chapter One 

Thanks for reading to beginning of my story


	2. Betrothed

Chapter Two: Betrothed

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Thirteen years have passed. The water tribe had finally finished rebuilding itself, and everything returned to the way it did before the fire nation attacked. Everyone was looking forward to the day when Princess Yukino would take the throne and become the ruler of their nation. She was all that they had left of a royal. The perfect princess, or so it seemed.

"You've already mastered waterbending and you're still trying to be greater?" Tsubaki stepped forward as she watched her niece move the water with piece, yet moved her body like a vicious lion. "Yukino, even a lady needs her rest."

"I must be a worthy opponent with great skills." Yukino turned around to face her Aunt. The wind moved swiftly through her long brown hair as the day was nearing twilight.

"Come now." Tsubaki gestured Yukino to come into the icy kingdom. "You must get cleaned up for the King of the Earth Nation. He is very eager to meet you young princess." She smiled. Yukino sighed and walked past her aunt entering the building. As she came near to her room, some of the housemaids began stripping her of her clothing. They entered the bath hall, filled with warmth and steam.

"This way my lady." One of her friends signaled her into the warm bath water. Yukino smiled and walked into the water. She sighed with relief and leaned against the bath wall. "Is the water to your needs?"

"You can drop the act Hitomi." Yukino had one eye closed as she looked over the girl. "You may work for me but we're still best friends." She smiled.

"Just doing my job." Hitomi dunked the princess under water, holding her down there for a second or two. Yukino resurfaced, gasping for air.

"Don't do that!" Yukino whined as soap was poured on her head. Hitomi scrubbed the brown hair and dunked her under water again.

"Your done. See that wasn't so bad." Hitomi held a towel out as Yukino jumped into it. "Now lets go get you dressed." She smiled. A slight moan came from the young princess as she dragged to her room.

---------

"And over here you'll find a lovely portrait of our beloved princess." Tsubaki pointed at a picture of Yukino. A man grinned, rubbing his beard with agreement.

"She is so young." He finally spoke. "She'll make a lovely wife."

"That she would." Tsubaki smiled. "We're still looking for a suitable man though."

"I didn't mean it like that." The man stepped forward to the picture and examined it. "I meant she'll make a perfect wife for me." He smiled. Tsubaki froze as he said those words. She didn't know what to say, knowing that he is the King of the Earth nation, and that he is sixty years older than Yukino.

"Dinner is now served." A woman approached them bowing as she did so.

"Splendid." The king clapped his hands. Tsubaki was somewhat uneasy as they entered the dinning hall, though the smell of tea eased her a bit. They both sat down with trays of food in front of them on the large table.

"Presenting, Princess Yukino." Hitomi announced after stepping into the room. She held her hands together down in front of her as Yukino walked into the dinning room. The princesses dress flowed gracefully every time she moved. The king was dumbfounded staring at the beauty that stood before him.

"It is a honor to be in your presence." Yukino bowed. Her brown locks fell before her as she leaned over.

"Please. Sit." Invited the king. She moved slowly and sat next to her Aunt.

After several hours of eating the delicious food before them and chatting about war plans on how to defeat the fire nation, they ended everything with deserts.

"Excuse me." Yukino got up out of her chair, bowed and left the room to the balcony. The old man looked at Tsubaki and moved his chair back. He lifted himself up and smiled at Tsubaki. "I'll check on her." He said heading toward the balcony. Tsubaki noticed a glimmer in the kings hand. She sighed knowing that this won't go oh so well.

Yukino spaced off as she stared down at her nation. The moon reflected in the canals.

"Your nation has done a great job rebuilding itself." The dark voice filled her ears. She quickly turned to find the older king behind her.

"It took us many years." Yukino finally spoke. "And this time our defenses are better than before."

"And now they await for the day when you take the throne and become ruler of the water nation." He stepped up closer. "I hear your looking for a suitable man."

"You heard right." Yukino scooted a bit from him, an uneasy filling was crawling inside of her. Suddenly, a necklace was dangling in front of her face.

"From my understanding, when you get engaged you wear a betrothal necklace in your tribe." He wrapped it around Yukino's neck. "Its for the better. For your people and the war." He grinned as he said that in her ear. Yukino's heart raced. A single tear rolled down her cheek.

"What about me?" She turned, glaring at him.

"What about you? Don't be selfish now." The king placed his hand on her cheek. "You'll get whatever you want. Our nations combined…I'll be- I mean we'll be invincible." He grinned scooting closer to her.

"Oh really…?" Yukino scooted a bit closer to him as well, she grabbed his beard and began to play with it. "Will I be loved by all…?" She asked innocently.

"Yes you will." The older man moved his face toward hers. "Especially by me." Yukino grinned, her face went from innocent to violent. She moved her hands as waterwhipped in between them, shoving him to the floor.

"I think not. If you think I'm that kind of woman, then you've got another thing coming at you." She was about to unleash her waterbending abilities when her aunt interrupted.

"I believe it is time for you to leave.. Your highness." Tsubaki growled.

"I was just about to leave." The king stood up. His eyes met with Yukino's with a livid look. "Consider my offer. If you know what is best for you. When a princess is born, she is sworn to give up herself for her kingdom, and yousurely arn't thinking about your duty." He turned. His cape whipped around as he left the balcony and exited the icy kingdom. 'no one makes a fool of me.'

"I get this feeling like this won't be the last time we see him again." Yukino sighed as she stared at her aunt. Tsubaki looked over her niece and smiled somewhat.

"Its time for you to sleep. A woman needs her rest." She spoke with comforting words. Tsubaki patted the young princesses back and moved her along the way down the hallway.

Yukino entered her bedroom. The room was empty of no maids. No one but her. "I must leave to night." She leaped onto her bed and snuggled in the soft feathered pillows. 'The prince of the fire nation is picking up soldiers just east of here…' Hitomi had told her earlier. 'If you go there, you can disguise yourself as a fire nation soldier, and travel with the young prince. There is a boat leaving tonight that is headed that way.' Yukino tossed in her bed thinking about the consequences. 'Is this a risk your willing to take?' Yukino looked up at the ceiling. "Yes…" She murmured, sliding herself under the blankets. Tsubaki peeked in and smiled a bit. She closed the door with a sigh. "Good bye… my niece." She mumbled and walked away.

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End of Chapter two

Hope you all enjoyed.


	3. A New Beginning

Chapter three A new Beginning

Sorry I haven't posted a new chapter in a long time. Its been done, I just got lazy and well>. ; never posted it. Now… -drum roll- Ph34r!

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"Prince Zuko." A wise voice echoed throughout a fiery bedroom.

"You may only disturb me if you have news about the Avatar." A young man said as he meditated in front of lit candles.

"Oh no, far greater news." The old man stepped in.

"The only greatest news uncle, is if my father has finally accepted me." The young prince turned to stare at his uncle. "What is it?"

"We have finally reached the port of the earth kingdom. And now I can get more Ginseng tea." The older man cheered.

"General Iroh." A man ran up to the old general. "Some of the men are here." He saluted.

"Just have them wait on deck." The young prince got up and walked past his uncle. "I'm going out to find some information on the avatar." He mumbled and left.

* * *

Yukino wondered through the earth kingdom forest. She felt lost, but knew she was getting closer to the port.

"I can't go in there dressed like the way I am." She said looking down at her water nation clothing. "And the way I look." She said grabbing a piece of her long brown hair.

"You there!" a man shouted at Yukino. "What do you think you are doing?" He demanded and ran toward her. "This territory is under General Ching's command and your trespassing." He glared.

"Oops." Yukino said getting in a fighting stance. "What are you going to do about it? Fight a girl?" She grinned. The man came up to her with fire in his hands. He thrust flames at her but she dodged them. While he was attacking her though, she was checking out his measurements.

"Hold still." The man was getting frustrated. "When you trespass, you become a prisoner. Now stop it!"

"You know what… you're my perfect size." Yukino smiled sending a wave of water at him from a nearby pond. He was sent flying to a tree and fell unconscious. "Wow… just a little bump and your out. Pretty weak." She laughed and pulled out rope and began tying him up. "I can't believe I'm about to strip a fire nation soldier…." She complained as she undressed the soldiers uniform.

* * *

"Prince Zuko!" The old uncle ran to an art shop and examined a vase. "This would look lovely in the dining hall." He smiled picking it up.

"We've all ready got enough antiques. " The young prince complained. General Iroh ran to a painting of a young girl.

"Oh… but we don't have any portraits." He said grinning. Prince Zuko walked up behind his uncle and looked at the portrait.

"Who is this?" He asked. "Was she an avatar a while back?" The salesman came up from behind and smiled.

"Such a lovely choice." He finally spoke. The two turned around to stare at the storekeeper. "This is the young princess of the water nation. Such a beautiful young blossom." He beamed.

"We'll take it!" Iroh burst out.

"Excellent." The storekeeper cheered.

"What?" Zuko stared at his uncle in disbelief. "Why do we need a portrait of a girl? And where are you going to put it?" He protested.

"Your room." Iroh turned and gave the money to the salesclerk. "We need to brighten up your room anyways." He smiled. Zuko turned around and walked away grumbling.

* * *

"Wow." Yukino examined her reflection in a small pond. "It _is_ a perfect fit." She said dumbfounded. She grabbed her hair and placed it in a pony tail. "I guess, I need a hair cut." She took out a blade her mother had given to her when she was small. She grabbed the middle of her hair and chopped more then half of her hair. In a pony tail it just barely reached her shoulders.

"I guess its time to head off into the port." Yukino followed the loud sounds of rummaging citizens.

Yukino walked into the small port astonished. It was her first time outside of her kingdom to step into a crowded town. She walked past all of the merchants and shops, dazed upon the busy people without realizing where she was going.

"Watch it!" A bigger older man shoved Yukino to the ground. "Stay out of my way you pathetic fire leach.." He laughed.

"Want to run that by me again?" Yukino got herself up, brushing the dirt off of her clothing. "Such bold talk for a man of no intelligence." She glared.

"What did you say!" He snorted, dropping the stuff he was carrying on to the earth ground. "No body makes fun of the great Isuzu!" He shouted.

"Baboon." Yukino got in a fighting stance. She wanted to use her waterbending, but she knew that it would blow her cover. The man, also known as the great Isuzu, ran at her with anger. He threw punches at her, but she dodged them. He threw whatever he could at her, but wasn't very successful. The so called great Isuzu, wasn't that great. He doesn't even know how to fight.

"Your wasting my time." Yukino said grabbing his final punch. She bent his wrist back, causing him to yell in pain. A crowd had already surrounded the two, rooting and cheering for one of the two. She shoved him back and jumped up, "This is for pushing me to the ground!" she stomped on his face, knocking him to the ground. "And this is for calling me a leach." She growled, kicking him in the groin. Everyone made a sound like, "oooh…. Ow… or ouch". The man fell back in pain, almost unconscious. Yukino dusted herself off and noticed that everyone was in shock. "He deserv-" She was cut off when everyone shouted in excitement and ran towards her.

"He beat Isuzu!" They chanted. Yukino's bubble was being popped and she quickly ducked down toward the ground. She crawled through the maze of joyful people and ended at the foot of a teenager. She looked up at the scared face boy as he stared her down. She smiled somewhat and crawled around him.

"Wait." He spoke as she jumped up to her feet. "I need your assistance."

"Sorry, but I'm in a hurry." Yukino said stepping back. "Bye." She turned on her heel and ran off into the crowd. The boy looked in the direction she was heading and sighed.

"Did you see that Prince Zuko?" Iroh stepped up from behind the young prince. "That young man just defeated this big fellow there." He said astounded. Zuko looked down at his uncle.

"Who cares." He mumbled and walked at a pace toward his ship. The old general shrugged his shoulders and trailed along his nephew.

* * *

Yukino wondered around the market aimlessly. "Ok… this shouldn't be hard." She moaned stepping up to a fire nation ship. "I just have to do this…" She looked up and saw some men walking up the board to the ship. "Hey!" She called out.

"What?" One of the men asked, stopping what he was doing to look down at her.

"Is this the prince of the fire nations ship?" She asked.

"Yes. If you're a new recruit, step aboard." The man said and left. Yukino looked up feeling nervous. She stepped on the board and walked up on deck. There she saw men lined up as an older man was getting their information. She quickly ran over to the end of the row and awaited her turn.

* * *

"Prince Zuko! What about this?" The old uncle rushed over to an instrument shop. He grabbed a horn type thing. "This would be perfect for music night."

"No." Zuko said bluntly. He turned and stared at his ship, seeing a bunch of men gathered atop. "Lets go." He walked toward his ship. Iroh ran to the store clerk and handed over the money and ran beside his nephew. Zuko walked up on to the deck and noticed the boy from before as he was getting his info.

((ooc: just so everyone doesn't get confused… people see Yukino as a boy))

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"Name." The older man said. Yukino was about to speak when the prince had approached her. She turned to him in a gaze.

"My name is Yuki." She said and turned back to the man.

"Age."

"16."

"Your just a kid." Zuko interrupted. Yukino looked back at the prince with a glare.

"Who are you calling a kid? And how old are you?" She demanded. Some of the men gasped. They couldn't believe that she was talking to their prince like that. Iroh began to cough and muttered sixteen under his cough. "Same age as me." She grinned.

"Why you low life fire peasant… to think someone such as yourself could have defeated that man." Zuko stepped forward to her as his hands turned into flames.

"Want to say that to my face..?" Yukino stood in her position as Zuko toward over her.

"Prince Zuko, that is enough." Iroh stepped in the middle of the two. Yukino stared blankly at the prince and then looked down at the old general.

"He's the prince…?" She pointed, still in shock.

"Yes I am. You will respect me. Got it?" Zuko shot a glare at her as he stepped back from his uncle.

"I'm _so_ sorry your highness." Yukino mumbled in a greedy sarcastic way. "Royal pain in the butt…" she muttered.

"Are we done here?" The old man that was collecting everyone's information asked.

"Yes." Iroh replied.

"Lets go then…" Zuko spoke up turning away from the group and headed off into the ship. Iroh shrugged once again and ran off as well into the ship. Yukino sighed and looked back at the man to listen to what he was telling the group of men. '_This is going to be a long odyssey._'

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End of Chapter Three

Hope you all enjoyed this Chapter. Chapter four will be up soon


	4. Friendship

Chapter Four Friendship

Yup. Heres the next chapter. I saidI would post it very soon... or something along those lines. Enjoy!

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Yukino finally entered her room of which she would be staying in until the princes goal was completed. As she opened the door, she saw a man laying on the bottom bunk bed reading a book. He looked up at her for a split second and fell back to his book.

"Uh.. Hello?" She finally spoke. The man looked back up at her and smiled.

"Hello." He said. "The name is Yusuke. Pleasure to meet you." He put his book down.

"Hi! I'm Yukin-" She paused for a second. "Yuki." She smiled. "Nice to meet you too." She looked up at the bunk above him.

"You'll be staying up there and that dresser over there..." Yusuke pointed to a small cabinet in the corner of the room. "Is yours along with another who should be here soon. We'll also be sharing the desk or as some say, the table."

"Ok… sure." Yukino nodded and climbed up to her bed. It wasn't the most comfortable bedding she had felt, but it was good enough for her.

"I'm going to go off now and find out my duties. It would be best for you to do the same." Yusuke said and left the room. Yukino sighed and plopped down on the bed. Her head hit the rough pillow and she laid there for a few minutes when a knock came on her door. The pillow moaned as she rolled over and climbed out of the bed.

"Coming…" She muttered and opened the door. She looked at the soldier in front of her and quickly slammed the door shut.

"no way…" She said. She looked at the handle and cracked the door open to take a peek at the person outside and quickly slammed it shut again.

"How long are you going to keep this up Yukino…?" A girls voice said. Yukino opened the door and looked around to see if anyone was coming. She quickly grabbed the girl and heaved her into the room, quickly shutting the door and locked it behind her.

"I'm going to ask you one question.. And I expect an answer." Yukino paced around the room as the girl sat on Yusuke's bed. "What in the world are doing here Hitomi!"

"Well you see…heh heh.." Hitomi smiled. "You think I'm going to let my best friend risk her life alone?" She questioned.

"Out of the question. You should have known better than to come here." Yukino stopped pacing and glared at her friend.

"Same goes for you." She sighed, leaning back. "You wouldn't have survived without me anyways."

"You.." A tear formed in Yukino's eyes as she quickly clung to Hitomi, giving her a huge bear hug. "You should of known better. But.. Its done so you might as well." Hitomi smiled and hugged her back.

* * *

The young prince stormed through the hallways of his ship. He needed to let some steam out due to his recent argument with Yukino. He turned a corner and ran right into his lovely little friend, knocking her to the floor.

"Second time today I've got thrown to the floor… what next?" Yukino mumbled and looked up at the prince who was glaring at her. "Why are you giving me the evil eye? What did I do this time?" She asked. Hitomi stood behind her, unsure what to do. She knew exactly who the prince was and was afraid of him.

"Your in my way." Zuko snarled. "Move." Yukino looked up at him and crossed her arms. She was still down on her butt, not budging one bit.

"Go around me oh mighty prince." Yukino glared back. Prince Zuko looked down at her dark blue eyes, and for a second, a flash back ran through his head from when he was a child. He quickly shook it off and walked around her.

"Whatever.." He mumbled and walked off. Yukino looked up at Hitomi and they both shrugged in confusion.

* * *

"Prince Zuko." The old man talked to his nephew as he was serving some tea for himself. "Why don't you have some tea. It will calm your nerves." He said pouring a cup for the prince.

"That soldier… Yuki or whatever his name is… he is really pushing it." Zuko finally spoke.

"Oh. You mean the one who defeated that big fellow at the port?" Iroh sipped his tea.

"Yeah.. Him." Zuko looked down at the tea. He saw his reflection, and looked back at his uncle. "For some reason.. I feel like I know him from when I was a child.. I don't know where though." He sniffed the tea in examination and quickly pushed it away.

"You two probably met back home." The old man poured himself seconds.

"What really gets me is his dark blue eyes."

"One parent could have been a water bender while the other was a fire bender. Or for all we know, he could be from the water nation, and is here to take revenge on your father who killed his parents. Which is most likely not the case since you seem to have met him from when you were young." Iroh laughed.

"Yeah.. I don't know. But I swear if he…" Zuko let out steam of anger.

"Tea?" Iroh smiled and held a cup up to the steaming prince.

* * *

Yukino walked out on to the deck. She ran to the bow and peered over the side at the ocean. "It feels so good." She smiled as some water flashed at her face.

"Your like a child Yukino." Hitomi walked up from behind. Yukino looked at her blankly.

"How many times so I have to tell you.. Call me Yuki. Yu-Ki." She said pointing at herself.

"Fine fine… And I'm Hito!" Hitomi revealed. Yukino giggled and quickly noticed a figure coming out on to the deck.  
"Funs over…" Yukino muttered as the prince walked up to them. She quickly noticed his chest for he was wearing no shirt but only pants. "What do you want now..?"

"I want you to fight me." Zuko smirked. "Show me what you can do."

"Why is it that it seems like I'm the only one getting picked on. Seriously." Yukino complained. "Why should I have to fight you? You already saw what I can do."

"Can't you two just get along?" Hitomi finally spoke. Zuko and Yukino looked at her and both shouted 'No!'. She sighed and backed away so she wouldn't be in the way.

"Will you just fight me, or are you scared…?" The prince laughed as he said those words.

"Fine." Yukino said bluntly. "Meet me back here in one hour." She said coldly and walked past him.

"I'll be waiting." Zuko leaned against the railing with his arms crossed as he watched Yukino walk away from him, disappearing into the ship.

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End of Chapter Four

Hmmmm... reviews would be nice 0.o; Tell me what you all think of my lovely little story so far! XD

Chapter five is on its way!


	5. Bring it

Ha! Well now... its been sometime since I've posted... hmmm... thats a problem XD

Sorry for the long wait on this chapter, I've been thinking alot for new ideas and whatnot. I hope you enjoy it! R&R!

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Chapter Five -Bring it

Yukino walked out back onto the deck and noticed that Prince Zuko hadn't moved from his spot.

"About time you showed up." He said stepping forward.

"It's only been about half an hour." She got closer. She had changed her clothing to a sleeveless black martial arts outfit, so she wasn't wearing heavy material. Hitomi had helped Yukino bandage up her chest so you couldn't see her girly figure.

"Shall we...?" He asked as his hands formed fire daggers.

"Lets get one thing cleared up-" Yukino was cut off when Zuko started charging at her with speed. He threw his right dagger at her but she ducked down below and stumbled back. She quickly moved back up as Zuko hurled his other arm at her. She shielded herself, blocking his arm off.

"Fight back." He yelled and jumped back. Yukino got into her fighting stance and glared at the towering prince. He ran at her again with flames in his hand and forced a stream of fire at her. She gasped and quickly bent back as the fire moved above her body. She back flipped a couple times and got further away from Zuko so she could figure out what to do. 'I can't water bender… so this sucks.' She thought. 'Looks like I'll just have to fight normally... While dodging the fire too…' She moaned.

"What are you doing?" The prince yelled at her. "Are you even trying!" Yukino looked at him.

"I'm not listening!" She childishly yelled. She knew she was acting like a child, but she didn't care. Prince Zuko grumbled and ran back at her once again. This time, Yukino also ran at him. As the two were getting closer to each other, Yukino dropped to her feet and slid underneath the prince. As she slid between his legs, she grabbed both of his legs and pulled him down. He fell flat on his face when Yukino hopped back up.

"What? Sleeping in the middle of a fight? Wow…" She laughed. Zuko lifted himself up and glared at her. He had a red spot on his nose where he had fallen on it.

"You'll regret that." He hopped up and turned around, only to notice she was gone.

"Hey!" Zuko looked up as Yukino's foot came right at him. He gasped and quickly grabbed her leg. "Wha-?" He threw her to the side, causing her to hit the railing of the side of the boat. She sat there for a second, rubbing her head of the pain. Zuko walked up to her and smiled.

"Not so tough are we now…?" He laughed. Yukino grinned, sending her leg around fast and tripping him to the ground. She quickly hopped up and backed away from him.

"Oh... I contradict." She said waiting for him. The prince was about to attack her again when a soldier came running out.

"Prince Zuko! Sightings of the Avatar have been reported." He shouted. "He's on Kyoshi Island." Zuko hopped up and looked at the helm.

"Set a course to Kyoshi Island!" He shouted and began to leave.

"Hey wait! What about our fight?" Yukino demanded.

"The avatar is more important then this silly little fight." He turned and looked at her.

"Then you must be a silly little boy because it was _your_ idea smart one!" She growled at him. Zuko turned around and walked up to her. He quickly grabbed her shirt and lifted her up to his face.

"I want you to stay here while I'm gone. Don't leave the ship, don't touch the land, don't do anything. I'll deal with you when I return with the avatar." He snarled and let go of her. He turned sharply and ran off. Yukino stood in her place and began rubbing where he had grabbed her. Her clothing had a smell of burnt cloth and she knew he wasn't joking around.

"Your not the boss of me... I have just as great power as you do..." She muttered to herself. "I'll make sure that you don't succeed… no matter what the cost is." A slight grin formed upon her face as she walked off to go change her clothing.

* * *

"Yukino… this is stupid." Hitomi said as Yukino dressed the two of them in their regular water tribe clothing. "One: We're dressed like girls again… and two: someone will surely notice us." She pointed out.

"If we wear make up and wear our hair right and show off our body… no one will recognize us." Yukino laughed it off. Half of her hair was in a ponytail, while the rest hung down. Her bangs were down as well. Normally when she was in disguise, her bangs were also up with her ponytail. She had slipped some eyeliner on her eyes and a little bit of eye shadow. Hitomi also did the same with her hair and makeup. She wore a blue Yukata over her slender body and dark blue baggy pants. Yukino wore almost the same besides the fact that her torso cut off to show her belly. She wore a black undershirt, and the top of her shirt looked like the top half of a Yukata that was cut apart that went over her shirt, with long sleeves that hung off her shoulders. A water nation badge was pinned to the middle of her chest along with her betrothal necklace that her mother gave to her for a keepsake. A long skirt laid over her thighs with slits that ran up each side, covering most of her dark blue slacks.

"We just started this trip and you're already on the verge of getting us killed. Nice thinking there." Hitomi crossed her arms as she watched her princess struggle to open up a fan. "Need help?"

"I can... do it..." Yukino grumbled. She got frustrated and flung it open, having it whack her in the face. Hitomi covered her mouth trying not to burst out laughing.

"Are you ok…?" A slight giggle escaped her mouth as Yukino turned to stare at her with a red mark on her forehead.

"I'm … fine." She mumbled and picked up a cloak. "Lets get going." She tossed another cloak to Hitomi.

"And how exactly are we supposed to get out of here without being noticed?" Hitomi asked catching the cloak.

"Zuko will be taking most of his men, so when he leaves, we leave." She smiled.

"If you say so."

* * *

Prince Zuko climbed aboard his rhino. The beast growled as the prince's foot jagged into its side to command it to go. A majority of men climbed upon their own beasts and were ready to head out.

"Lets move." Zuko commanded as the front of the bow began to unfold to make a passage. He kicked the rhino again and it began to walk off onto the land, followed by the soldiers.

* * *

End of Chapter Five

o.o Well this was a short chapter... It looked longer yesterday... T.T


	6. Risk Taking

Just because I'm so cool... I might as well post this chapter up since I just finished it. Enjoy : )

* * *

Chapter Six -Risk taking

Yukino peeked out of her window as she watched the young prince board the land to engage ravage upon the innocent people. A slight grin came on her face when the last person left the ship.

"Are you ready?" She said placing the hood over her head.

"I'll always follow you... Even for the most stupidest things my princess…" Hitomi sighed and lifted her hood up.

Yukino creaked the door open and looked to see if anyone was coming. She sighed in relief and quickly jolted out. "Everyone must be having a party now that the all mighty prince has left the ship." She laughed as Hitomi trailed behind her. The two ran from their room to the door that led outside on deck. Yukino glanced outside to see no guards and she quickly sprinted out to the front of the boat and jumped over the side and held onto the railing as she watched to make sure that Hitomi could run.

"This is... too risky." Hitomi cried as she waited for the signal Yukino was going to give her.

"Whats too risky?" One of the men came up from behind her, waiting for an explanation.

"Yukino being a blonde at heartand taking life-" She stopped, finally realizing who she was talking to. She glimpsed to see who it was and quickly shrieked, unsure what to do.

Yukino squinted her eyes to see what the hold up was and noticed the guard behind Hitomi. "She can't do anything right…" She complained, wrapping the robe over her mouth. She hopped up on top of the deck and quickly ran toward the two, but was blocked off by other guards coming up from below deck. "Just want to get off this fricken ship… that's all… but nooo…." She murmured. She pulled some water from the ocean and began to play around with it.

"Alright, who wants some of this?" She asked loudly being surrounded. Some of the guards laughed, getting ready to either fire bend or use their weapons. Yukino laughed under her breathe and quickly pulled the water apart and used it to push the men far from her. 'Don't want to hurt them…' She thought to herself.

"Yukino!" Hitomi cried out when the guard grabbed her arm and tried to force her to come with him. Yukino twitched, and ran at the two with great speed.

"Flying kick of doom!" She screamed and sent her foot flying at the mans face. He dropped his grip and Yukino yanked Hitomi away. "Lets go already!" She said and sprinted off, dragging Hitomi from behind and exited the ship.

* * *

"Keep an eye out, the avatar could be anywhere." Prince Zuko yelled, scanning the small town of Kyoshi a head of them. He watched from afar as the citizens went about their daily work, not even noticing that fire nation troops have landed on their shore. "Lets move." Zuko ordered, leading the troops farther onto the island.

* * *

Yukino and Hitomi wondered through the town, blending it quite well due to their color of clothing.

"Yukino, shouldn't we warn these people..?" Hitomi nudged her arm in question.

"Not yet." Yukino smirked. "This place, Kyoshi Island, is known for their well trained warriors. For all we know, they already know that the fire nation is here." She shrugged and quickly ran over to a booth selling jewels. Yukino was about to pick up a piece of a blue jewel when suddenly the store keeper snatched the jewels and placed them in a cloth. Screaming of terror alarmed the town as the fire nation troops approached. "Looks like the fun has began..." Yukino smiled evilly. "Hitomi, I need you to hide… this time, I'm going to give the almighty prince a taste of my mind." She grinned. "But this time, it's the real me." Hitomi looked at her with concern and quickly ran off.

* * *

Prince Zuko's rhino stepped onto the entrance of the small village. His beast walked forward as he examined the buildings for any unusual signs. 'It's too quiet…' He thought when suddenly they were ambushed by the warrior girls of Kyoshi. His men scattered while they tried to fight off the fighting girls, leaving him to himself. A couple of the girls began to run at him, but he blew fire at them, and to their surprise, the rhino turned around and flungit's tail at them. The leader of the girls came up from behind Zuko and quickly pulled him off the Rhino, causing it to cower away. Prince Zuko looked up at his surroundings. He was bordered off by the group of girls and quickly flung his foot around, sending enormous power of fire away from him.

"Is this the best you got?" Zuko stood up and shouted. "These little girls can't hide you forever!"

"Over here!" Yelled a young boy from a distance. A little boy of the age of twelve stood in stance with his staff in front of him.

"Finally… the avatar…" Zuko mumbled and sent a huge ball of fire at the small boy, also known as Avatar Aang. Aang was about to dodge when out of no where, Yukino jumped in front of him and quickly extinguished the fire with her water whip. Her robe covered most of her body and her mouth.

"Hurry, run!" Yukino shouted.

"Who are you?" Aang's curiosity got to him.

"I'm a friend. Now go!" She yelled.

"But-" Aang was speechless, unsure what to do.

Yukino turned her head, her eyes sparkled at him. "We'll meet again. Leave this guy to me. I've got business to take care of." She said in a calm gentle voice. Aang nodded and quickly ran off.

"Come back here!" Prince Zuko shouted and quickly ran at Aang, but was blocked off by Yukino.

"Oh no you don't!" She growled. "Your mine…"

"Step aside. I have no reason to fight you!" He kept glancing at the way Aang ran off to.

"But I do." Yukino streamed water around her as she stepped forward. "You came into this village with no heart. You destroyed these people's houses and their spirits. And you have no guilt whatsoever?" She quickly whipped him. "Now I'm mad." Yukino encircled him with her water. Zuko tried to escape but everywhere he went, the water turned into solid ice and blocked his path. Yukino brought her hands together, and at the same time, the water that surrounded Zuko, closed in on him and engulfed him onto the water. She closed her eyes and aimed her fingers together at the water globe that Zuko was in. She leaped forward and the water that atehim turned into an ice burg.

"Try that fresh winter coat on." She snarled and turned around.

Prince Zuko stood there in the ice, angered by this girl who thought she had beaten him. The ice burg began to steam as his fists glowed brightly with fire, working its way at the ice to get himself free.

Yukino began to walk away when the ice burst opened, flinging chunks of ice all over the village. An ice block was about to hit Yukino, when she quickly turned around and turned it into water.

"Why you little water witch…" Zuko growled angrily. He stepped forward with his feet on fire as well as his hands. "I'll show you what its like to mess with the fire nation, especially the fire prince." He flashed a wave of fire, moving it around like a dragon would slither about.

"Last I heard, the fire prince got banished from his nation two years ago! Your no prince in shining armor, your just a sad little boy who chases after things that he is unable to get!" Yukino shouted at him. 'uh oh… I know that's going to get me on his death list.'

Prince Zuko's eyes flashed from the sun light, his temper was uncontrollable now. Helost it.His wave of fire multiplied high in the air, creating five fire waves. They spun fiercely out of control and aimed down at Yukino.

"Crap!" Yukino yelled and quickly ran off. She couldn't out run the fire, it was gaining on her too fast like a wild fire in a forest. Pulling the rest of the water out of her canteen, she turned around and faced the fire, quickly whipping it around in front of her forming a block of ice shield. The first fire flame hit it and quickly dissolved, but the other flame was right behind it. Yukino's eyes widened and she turned around, shielding herself off with her robe. The fire hit her back, pushing her to the ground. The other threewaves were sent at near by houses, engulfing them into flames.

Yukino laid on the ground. The back of her robe was on fire. She laid still until the fire ate away at the robe and began to attack her skin.

"OW! HOT!" She screamed, quickly jumping up and stripping herself off of the robe. Her brown hair unfolded down her back, revealing her feminine body.

"You know… for a real weak at the heart guy, you certainly can blow fire." She winced, rubbing her back.

"Shut up!" Zuko yelled. "I'm not done with you now… at first, I had no intentions to fight you, but now, you've really angered me." He stepped forward.

Yukino still had her back turned to him, deciding weather or not she should show her face. "Yeah well… you've angered me to. So we're even." She mumbled.

"I'll throw that same move at you and finish you off." The prince laughed. Yukino clenched her fist, that was it. She was through with this selfish prince.

"Look at what you have done here!" She burst out. "You did that move without even thinking! You couldn't even control yourself. Your hurting everyone around you, even your own men who are hiding behind these houses!" Some of the men peeked around the corner as they saw Yukino turn around and scream at their prince. "How dare you call yourself the prince of the fire nation when you can't even control your own fire!"

Zuko stood there, shocked that this girl was scolding him for his actions.

"Your not man enough to even be worth of the fire nation. No, my mistake. All fire nation men are ruthless people who take the lives of innocent people just to make them smile; just killing an entire family will make them laugh. You do belong there." She said and turned her back at him. "Looks like your key to victory is leaving." She pointed up.

Zuko looked up to see what she was talking about and gasped. "The Avatar!" he shouted. "Don't lose track of him!" Prince Zuko looked back to where Yukino had been standing and noticed she was gone. "Good riddance…" He ran to where his men had gathered the last of the rhino beast and hopped up. "Lets move!"

* * *

Aang sat on the flying bison's head. "Aang it's the best that you ran away. Zuko would have destroyed the whole village if you were to have stayed." Said a young girl of the age of fourteen.

"I met this girl though… I hope shes alright." He turned and stared at the village with the flames bursting from left to right. He stood up and quickly jumped off the beast.

"Aang! What are you doing!" The girl shouted as Aang dove into the water below. Suddenly, a giant eel emerged from the water, with Aang holding onto its whiskers, trying to get a hold of the beast. He moved himself on the eel and pulled the whiskers back, causing the beast to open its mouth and stray water onto the small village, extinguishing the flames.

* * *

Zuko and his men sat on their rhino all crouched together as it rained on top of them. He grumbled, quite mad now that he was getting soaked.

* * *

"You did it Yukino!" Hitomi awaited her in the forest behind the village.

"We better go before the prince gets back to his ship." Yukino walked past her and took a short cut to the ship.

"Ok…" Hitomi followed behind, worried about Yukino.

* * *

Aang was flung off of the eel and was caught byAppa, his flying bison. He climbed on top of the beast and sat down on his back. "I know I know, that was stupid and dangerous Kitara." He explained.

"Yes, it was." She smiled and gave him a hug.

* * *

Yukino walked to the shore before Zuko had arrived. She made a path of ice to the ship and quickly ran over to their window. She stomped her foot down on the ice, causing it to rise up into a staircase pattern. "Hurry." She motioned Hitomi to come as she pried the window open. Hitomi climbed through the small hole as well as Yukino and turned around to face the ice. She moved her hands out of the window and quickly pulled them back in, turning the ice into its original form.

"Why didn't we go this route before...?" Hitomi mumbled.

"Get dressed before our roommate comes back." Yukino told Hitomi.

"Ok..."

* * *

Prince Zuko came back to his ship in a bad mood.What a surprise.

"Welcome back nephew!" His uncle Iroh shouted from above when Zuko entered.

"He got away." Zuko mumbled as he approached his uncle, leaving his men to take care of the Rhino.

"Oh I see, don't worry Prince Zuko. You'll get him next time." His uncle reassured.

"There was a girl who got in my way." He faced the old man.

"Oh really? She catch your eye?" He giggled somewhat.

"Yeah… she blocked my path to the avatar, so I went after her." His face was emotionless.

"Oh my! You didn't-!" Iroh began blushing, getting the wrong impression of what Zuko really meant.

"Yeah I did. She was a hassle, but I got her." Iroh began to tear up.

"I'm so proud of you! You're a man now!" He cheered, still getting the complete wrong idea.

"Whatever." Prince Zuko looked around and noticed water was everywhere. He knew for one that it didn't rain so that meant something happened while he was gone. "What happened here?" He asked a man who walked by. The soldier looked at him and sighed.

"Right after you left, we had an intruder. A water bender to be exact. She came from inside and was trying to get off the ship with her friend. She got away by kicking me in the face and jumping off the ship. The only clue we have to who she is, her name." The man stated.

"What's this girls name?" Zuko asked.

"Yukino." Iroh gasped as he overheard the conversation.

"That's the name of the Princess of the water nation. There's no way that could be her though because she has to stay and watch over her country." The old general stated. "But boy, if that was her, she most certainly would have as great ofvalue as much asthe avatar to the Fire Lord." He laughed. "If only..."

"Why's that?" The young prince demanded.

"Well think about it, she is the only heir to the throne of the water nation. If the Fire Lord had her in his possession, he would rule over that nation, just like the air nomads." He smiled with this knowledge he had. "But Yukino can be a popular name in the water nation so that chances that that was her are slim."

"Then that girl that I met must be named Yukino." Zuko pondered for a moment. "Blah! Forget it! I'm going to bed!" He grumbled and stomped off to his room.

* * *

Yukino lay on her top bunk while Hitomi fell fast asleep. 'Stupid prince.' She moaned, rolling over and closed her eyes. 'I just hope he doesn't find out... I have my mission and that is to make sure Zuko doesn't succeed on this trip and that I destroy the fire lord.'

* * *

Prince Zuko walked into his room and sighed. He stripped off his armor and crawled into his soft bed. As he lay there, he began thinking to himself. 'How did I do that move anyways? I just lost it and I don't know what happened next.' He groaned. 'I'll have to ask Uncle about that... otherwise, this new move could hold the key to my victory.'

'_You did that move without even thinking!_' Yukino's voice ran through his head.

"Argh... who are you?" He mumbled and rolled over, closing his eyes.

* * *

End of Chapter 6

-gasp- What will happen next? Will Yukino blow her cover on accident? What does Prince Zuko have in mind of this new rival? Stay tuned for the next chapters ahead! R&R


	7. Surprised?

Chapter 7 - Surprised?

---------------------------------------

"Rise and shine!" Hitomi shouted up at the top bunk. Yukino rolled over and moaned, quickly hiding herself under the blankets. "Its a beautiful day out! Time to go go go!" She hopped up and yanked the covers off of Yukino.

"I demand you to go away…" Yukino mumbled, quickly grabbing the covers and heaved them over her head.

"I don't think so. You see, when your at home, your in charge, when its time for you to get dressed, I'm in charge." Hitomi grinned. "And since neither of us are at home, your not the boss of me!" She grabbed the blankets and pulled them off the bed. Hitomi quickly ran over to the window and pulled the curtains open, letting the bright sun light fill the room.

"What the-!" Yukino shot up and looked around the room. Their room mate had already left to go and eat, leaving the two alone to wake up and get dressed. "For a second there, I thought I was home." She sighed, looking to see Hitomi's bright smiling face staring directly at her. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Oh… no reason." She placed her finger on the bed bunk, rubbing it with a grin on her face. "I just thought you should know that if you don't get up, Prince Zuko is going to burn your butt." She laughed.

"Oh my gosh! ARGH!" Yukino looked around, and panicked. "He wanted to see me and a few other men today! I'm late!" She hopped off the bed, and quickly ran over to where her clothes were. She rapidly bandaged up her chest and grabbed her underclothes.

"Let me help you." Hitomi smiled, grabbing the chest plate armor and slid it on her.

"Why didn't you wake me up earlier!" Yukino slid on her heavy pants, almost falling over.

"I didn't know until a few minutes ago when one of the guys knocked on the door to see what you were doing." Hitomi pulled back the panicking girls hair and quickly did it up in a pony tail.

"This is so… Stupid!" Yukino ran out the door after tying her boots up.

"Have a nice day and be a good boy!" Hitomi smiled, waving a goodbye for now. "Now then… where can I find some tea around this joint…?" She grinned.

-----------------------------

Yukino ran down the hallways, going from sharp turns, to avoiding the men walking by. She had memorized the entire ship by now, and basically knew where everything was.

"I'm here! Sorry I'm late!" She slid into the room where the prince and three other men were sitting. They all turned and stared at her, especially Zuko, who was giving her more of a glare then a friendly look.

"About time you showed up!" He yelled at her angrily.

"Next time don't make it so early!" She snapped back.

"Shut up and sit down!" Zuko demanded. Yukino sighed and sat down next to Yusuke, who was also invited to the little seminar. "Where's Hito?" He looked around, "Hmph... his loss…"

"Anyways, before I was rudely interrupted." He shot a glare at her, who just sat there and ignored him. "You four are my top soldiers, and one other who's not present. You've got the moves, the strategy, and the brains, besides one of you." Yukino was about to attack him, but held back.

"Tatsu." Prince Zuko looked at a red headed man on the end of the row. He stood and stared at the prince. "You're skills with fire bending is far greater then anyone else I've seen on this ship." Iroh came into the room, carrying red ribbons with small silver medallions hanging off of them. "Take this-" The old general handed him the medallion. "And be on the my elite team."

"Thank you." Tatsu bowed and sat back down, inspecting his new pride and joy.

"Yura." A man stood up and stared at Zuko. He was quite tall for someone of his age. He looked to be about eighteen years of age. He was good looking as well, with shining black hair that hung off his head, and golden eyes. "I have been watching you, as well as other men on your archery."

Yukino blushed when she first laid eyes on Yura. 'He's kind of cute.' She thought. 'Note to self, don't fall for him or I will suffer the consequences. Ah! What am I thinking! I can't fall for guys! I have a strong mission to go forth with. Guys are the last thing on my mind.' She looked away. 'But… argh! Why me? He's cute! Wait… he's fire nation, think of bad thoughts when I see him.'

"My family has been skilled in archery for years, so I take on that skill as well." Yura spoke. Iroh handed him the medallion, and smiled.

'Uhg! Such a nice voice too! The agony!' She sniffed.

"You will do." Zuko said and turned to stare at the man next to him.

"Yusuke of the Hisashi fire clan. A noble clan with great skills." The young prince grinned. "I'm very pleased that you joined us."

'The Hisashi fire clan?' Yukino thought in her head. She turned and stared at him for a moment. 'I've heard of them before. Just five of them took out an entire earth kingdom village in less then a day!' She turned away when he noticed her looking at him. 'I better watch my back around him now that I know what he's capable of. Especially since he's my room mate…' She cried in her head. 'damn it…'

"When I heard that the Prince of the Fire nation was going on this journey, due to his punishment, I decided to go." Yusuke said. "I figured I may be of some use."

"Oh yes you are!" Iroh spoke aloud. "Its very rare to have someone of the Hisashi fire clan join us on such a long journey." He smiled greatly.

"It is an honor." Yusuke bowed when Iroh handed him the medallion.

Prince Zuko sighed when he looked at Yukino. She stared off into space, after hearing the information about the three men. "Hey fire peasant." He glared at her when she didn't respond. "Are you even paying attention?" He stomped over to her and stared down.

"I have a name you know…" Yukino gazed up at him.

"So? You should be thankful that I'm even considering this. If it weren't for my uncle, you wouldn't be here right now." He snapped in a stern voice.

"Big woop." Yukino stood up and stared at the prince. "I would prefer if you would stop with the name calling. Your showing your lack of maturity towards your men." She sighed, crossing her arms.

"Your really getting on my nerves." Zuko growled.

"Prince Zuko, just ignore him and get on with it, I would very much like to have some tea now." Iroh interrupted them.

"Fine… Yuki, you're skills in Martial arts are good." Prince Zuko mumbled.

"Just good?" Yukino protested.

"Fine! Their great! I haven't seen anyone use martial arts from different nations before." He looked away with anger. "Now take the stupid medallion." He gestured Iroh to give her the medal.

"Thank you." Yukino took the silver medallion and inspected it. It had a nice carving of the fire nation symbol on it and shined beautifully.

"Someone go find Hito and make it fast." Prince Zuko demanded.

'Hito? Hitomi? Nah… it couldn't be. Why would Hitomi be here? It must be some other soldier on board.' She calculated.

"No need, I'm right here." A soft but husky voice spread throughout the room. Yukino turned around and gasped when she saw Hitomi leaning in the doorway with her arms crossed and the slightest grin spread on her lips.

"Where have you been?" Prince Zuko looked over her with annoyance.

"Oh you know, around. I was actually looking for tea and then I remembered I was also invited here, so I figured I might as well." She laughed.

"So the shy one of Yuki's friends actually isn't shy. What a surprise…" He said.

"Looks like it." She stuck her tongue out and entered the room.

"Hito, my uncle and I have noticed you swing around that small kitana of yours. At first we thought that you had no idea what you were doing until you began to practice with some of the men, and even managed to slice off the armor of one of them." Zuko looked at Tatsu who just looked away in embarrassment. "Impressive…"

"Don't let the red hair and green eyes full you. I am strong." She smirked. Iroh walked over to her and handed her the last medallion.

"You five are now apart of my elite team who will assist me in capturing the avatar whenever we go out on a hunt. With your skills combined, we will be able to capture him with no trouble." Prince Zuko grinned. "Nothing will stop me now." He headed out the door in a good mood for once.

"Yusuke! We would have never expected you to be a member of the Hisashi fire clan!" Tatsu broke the silence among the five.

"Why do you say that?" Yusuke looked up at the Yura and Tatsu who were crowding around him.

"Well because… you never do anything. Your always wondering around, doing your duty and then reading. You've done nothing to show yourself that you belong to that clan."

"Why would I need to? There's no reason for me to show off." Yusuke grinned.

'Boys…' Yukino sighed and looked over at Hitomi who was staring directly at her. 'How am I going to deal with her now?' She got up and walked over to where Hitomi was standing. She stopped and shot a glare at her and walked out the door.

"She'll understand." Hitomi mumbled under her breathe and walked out the door and headed off into a different direction.

Yukino stepped into her room and hopped up on to her bed. "Why would Hitomi not tell me? I don't understand!" She flopped back and laid on the bed, closing her eyes, she drifted off into a slumber. Nap time for the princess.

--------------------------------

Tsubaki, Yukino's aunt, sat peacefully at her tea table, drinking a cup of soothing tea to calm her nerves.

"My lady." A servant approached the old woman.

"Yes?"

"The people are beginning to question as to why they have not heard or seen Princess Yukino in a while. What should we tell them?" The young girl asked.

"No one will know that our Princess is missing. If this information leeks out, it will spread across the nations and we will fall to pieces." Tsubaki sipped her tea. "If anyone questions, Princess Yukino is very sick with a disease that is unknown and is unable to leave bed."

"Yes my lady." The girl bowed and left Tsubaki to herself.

"How could you leave your nation like this Yukino? You can't do it by yourself…" She sighed.

"Shes not really sick, is she?" The shadows in a corner of the room spoke viciously.

"Who's there!" Tsubaki stood up and looked over at the shadows with green eyes glaring deeply at her.

"Where is she?" The old king of the Earth Kingdom stepped forward.

"You!" Tsubaki got in a fighting stance. "What are you doing here!"

"Oh nothing, just wondering where my bride is and why shes not where she belongs. I've come to take her, even if it means I have to kill." One of his men came into the room holding the girl from before hostage.

"Where is she? If you don't tell me, this girls life is mine." He pulled out a dagger.

"My lady! No!" The girl screamed.

"Quiet you!" The man that was holding her, slapped her across the face.

"Stop this!" Tsubaki yelled. "I don't know how you got in here but you are not welcomed here! Princess Yukino is not your bride, she refused your proposal."

"I will soon rule this nation so you might as well get used to it." The old man laughed. "Now then, if you value this life, you will take me where your Princess is." He held the dagger to the girls throat.

Tsubaki dropped to her knees, angered that she couldn't do anything. "I don't know where she is." She began. "She ran off to catch a boat that was leaving for an earth kingdom port. She plans on going to the center of the fire nation and kill Ozai herself. That's all I know. She didn't give me anymore details." She sighed.

"Good enough. I'll find her and take her as mine." He snapped his fingers and the man that was holding the girl pushed her away. "Lets move." He walked out of the door, slamming it shut behind him.

"My lady! Are you all right?" The girl crawled over to Tsubaki. She sat there with tears in her eyes.

"Please Yukino, wherever you are right now, be safe. You've got so much more coming after you." She prayed as the young girl comforted her.

------------------------

Yukino woke up with sweat dripping off her face. "Aunt Tsubaki!" She shouted out and looked around to notice that she was alone on the fire nation ship of the prince. "I had such a strange dream that… aunt Tsubaki was praying for my safety." The slightest laugh escaped her mouth. "I must be paranoid. It was just a dream." She slid off the blankets that she had worked her way under them while she was asleep. "Looks like Hitomi hasn't come back." She sighed and hopped off her bed onto the floor. She opened the door and headed out to explore the ship but soon found herself pushing the doors open to the food court.

"It must be dinner time…" She mumbled as she watched men sit and eat, talking about war plans or their life. Yukino frowned when she didn't see Hitomi and slowly made her way over to the lunch line.

"Fried fish sticks and seal jerky…" She examined the food before her as the cook handed her a plate with the meal on it. "If only I was back at home… then I could eat whatever I wanted." She said to herself.

"Why are you talking to yourself?" Yusuke stood next to her, after he had grabbed his plate. "People will start to wonder you know."

"Mind your own business." Yukino turned and began to walk away.

"Well aren't we a bit rude." He followed after her with a grin on his face. Yukino stopped to a halt and turned around to face him directly in the eye.

"What do you want? Can you not see that I want to be alone?" She glared.

"Your eyes have a nice shade of blue. Throughout my life, I've never seen such an ocean blue like those." He smirked. "The men here are either green, gold, brown or red. Whats your secret?" She glared deep into his golden eyes.

"I don't have a secret." She broke away and turned around. "My mother was of water tribe and my father was of fire nation. I inherited my mothers eyes, but I inherited a majority of my fathers traits." She lied.

"If you say so…" He walked up behind her and bent down to her ear. "I know your hiding something and I'm going to find out." He laughed somewhat and walked away, leaving her to stand in the middle of the court room in shock.

---------------

"Hito." Yukino walked up behind Hitomi who was talking to a group of guys. "We need to talk." She grabbed her by the collar and began to drag her off.

"Hey! Wait!" Hitomi complained. "I'll catch up with you guys later!" She yelled back at the group and lost sight of them with the two turned a corner.

"Alright, spill it. Whats with the secret you never told me about." Yukino pinned her against the wall.

"What? My swordsmanship?" Hitomi question.

"Yeah, that. Why didn't you tell me?"

"I don't know. Probably because I wasn't sure if you would have approved. I am supposed to live as a palace servant, not a warrior." She looked away. "I grew up practicing day after day in secret, ever since my parents passed away on that day." She sighed. "I never told anyone, until we came on to this journey when I thought now would be a perfect time to let my skills out."

"So that's what it was? Because your job is to live as my servant?" Yukino froze. "You idiot."

"What!" Hitomi glared at her.

"My best friend once told me she wasn't going to let me risk my life by myself so she followed me. What she did was much worse then hiding the fact that she had an ability with swords." She sighed.

"At least I'm not the idiot who plans on killing a lord." Hitomi smiled.

"It's a good thing we're best friends…" Yukino clung to her and smiled as well. "Listen, I've got a huge problem on my hands now…" She began to talk serious.

"What?"

"Yusuke is on to me."

"What!"

"He knows I'm hiding something, and I don't know what to do." Yukino stepped away.

"Well that's no surprise since he's from the Hisashi fire clan… this _is_ a problem." Hitomi looked at Yukino.

"I'm not sure what he's on to though…" Yukino looked down at her chest. "Do my breasts stick out?" She questioned, touching her torso. "Or maybe its my voice…" She cleared her throat and began to hum in a deep voice. "But, he asked me about my eyes."

"Your eyes…?" Hitomi leaned in and looked at Yukino's eyes. "Maybe he was on to the fact that there're different then everyone's else. They are of water tribe, so maybe he's getting the impression that your not fire nation?"

"I told him that my mother was of water tribe and my father was of fire nation. I don't know… but I'm going to deal with this."

"Hito!" A man yelled from down the hallway. "Its your turn to patrol the deck." He pointed up.

"Alright." She shouted back. "Listen, I'll catch up with you later. Just don't do anything stupid."

"Stupid? What are you getting at?" Yukino gave her a dirty look when Hitomi began to run off. "I'll get you later!"

"See yea!" Hitomi waved and ran off to patrol, leaving her behind alone. Yukino sighed and turned around. She turned a corner and ran right into someone and fell to the ground.

"Ow…" She mumbled, looking up to see Prince Zuko standing over her. "Why is it that whenever I run into you, literally, I'm the one on the ground?"

"Because your weak, that's why." He grinned, happy that he felt superior over her.

"If I'm weak, then why don't I have any scars…?" She looked at his face and froze when his fists turned into flames. "Wait now-"

"You have anything else to say about me!" Zuko bent down with anger in his eyes.

"I was just kidding Mr. Short tempered!" She crawled back and quickly jumped up to her feet. He was about to hit her when Iroh had approached them, and cut in between the two.

"I turn my back for five minutes, and your already after him Prince Zuko." The old man sighed. "Anyways, I told the helm to make a stop at a near by port."

"Why? We don't have time for that!" Zuko stepped back in frustration.

"Then I guess we don't eat. The cook has reported that we are running low of food, and since there's a port, now would be the time to do so." Iroh stated.

"Fine…" The young prince mumbled. "Maybe we can find some information about the avatar." He turned away and began to walk off.

"Why is he always so mad…?" Yukino asked the old man. He looked up at her and frowned.

"He wasn't always like that, his life is very difficult right now." He looked down with sadness.

"So he takes his anger out on the people surrounding him. How sad." She shook her head. "If he treated his people better, they would give him more respect."

"Actually, its only you that treats him that way." Iroh said.

"Oh… well, he is always angry though. Maybe we could do something for him?" She asked.

"Like a party!" The old man jumped. "Gather up young girls for the men and him, and me of course, and have a huge party!" He said, getting excited at the idea.

"Um, sure? I was going to say anger management, but that may work." Yukino smiled somewhat.

"Bah! Anger management is for saps! Tomorrow, we have a party! I must go make an announcement to the men!" He yelled and began to skip away with joy.

"What a crazy old man." She beamed, and walked off the way the old man ran off to.

---------------------

End of Chapter 7

Bwahahah! I love it! My chapters are beginning to get longer and longer. Lol…

At first for this chapter, I wasn't sure what to do. I had writers block, yet my fingers just typed, and this is what the outcome is. I can hardly wait to start chapter 8, now that I have an idea!

Review please! I love to see how I'm doing, or if anyone has any ideas!

Also, um, I'm actually an artist, so I've been drawing my characters. See my profile to check out my deviantart.

Oh yeah, I've been having issues with the little Ruler thing, so i had to do the "-----" thing... . yeah...


	8. festivity

Chapter 8 - festivity

* * *

Every fire nation troop on board the ship had to immediately report to the food court for an important announcement that the old retired general himself was giving that morning. Apparently he had something planned up his sleeves, and all men were invited to, except for the young fire prince himself. Iroh had instructed Prince Zuko to stay in his room and meditate as part of his new lesson for the week. Apparently meditating and drinking tea would make him stronger in fire bending, so he went with it.

"Tonight men." Iroh stood in front of the crowd. "We shall party like there is no tomorrow." He shouted with excitement. The men roared with happiness, approving of the idea and actually having fun for once.

"Yuki and I have thought up of the greatest idea to lighten up my nephews anger, and that is to bring the girls on board and have a night of fun!" His smile widened when he pointed in the middle of the crowd at Yukino. She sat there uneasy when some of the guys patted her on the back and thanking her for the idea.

"So, as we land on the port in a few minutes, you all have a task." Iroh grinned. "Half of the men on board will go out and take, not kidnap, two girls each." The men yelled and whistled when the old man said that. "Once you have gotten your two girls, take them to the practice room, and there I will hire maids to fancy them up for tonight!" Iroh began to make his way down the middle of the crowd, splitting them off into two groups and headed back up. "The right side will go out for the hunt, while the left side will stay and patrol so my nephew doesn't get suspicious." He winked and everyone quickly made their exit.

Of course our heroine of the story got stuck with the right side of the group and was not happy at all with the idea that she, a girl, had to go out and find two girls. "Why me…" She mumbled and looked at Hitomi, who was also not looking happy. The two walked down to their room when Yukino finally broke the silence. "Say… I've got an idea!" She shouted happily.

"What?" Hitomi looked at her with confusion. "Kill ourselves and avoid dancing with girls?"

"No… come on, I'll tell you." She quickly opened up the door to their room, and luckily, no Yusuke was anywhere around.

"Alright, spill it. Anything to not go to Iroh's little festivity." Hitomi moaned.

"Why don't we play sick, and go out tonight? Not as fire soldiers, but as ourselves." Yukino said happily.

"You know, that may actually work."

"Of course! Everyone will be to busy to notice that we're gone, so we'll just go out and have our own little fun." She said proud of her brilliant idea.

"Works for me." The two danced happily.

"Ok, since we're supposed to be out there hunting down girls, lets pack up our girly stuff, and then we can change down there." Yukino headed straight to her dresser and quickly packed away her clothes in a sack, as well did Hitomi. The two strapped their belongings on their back and they headed out of their room.

"Good luck catching those girls down there." Iroh stepped in front of the two before they could make their way up on deck. "I hear some of them are quite feisty." He chuckled.

"Don't worry, I think we can handle them. We are on Prince Zuko's elite team after all." Yukino indicated the medallion on her chest.

"Hmm, that is true. Well, have fun anyways!" He waved them off as he headed down to his nephews room to check up on him.

* * *

"Ok, when the old man said a port, I was thinking small. But this place, it's huge!" Yukino yelled out dumbfounded. It was true, the port was more like any big busy city.

"Where can we change? Its so… crowded." Hitomi examined their surroundings.

"One second, let me see if there is a forest nearby." Yukino said and darted off straight towards a small building. She quickly leaped up on a barrel, and jumped up on top of the building.

"Smart thinking Yuki! You can really see the girls from up there!" Yelled one of the men walking by, already having two girls trailing behind him giggling and laughing. She rolled her eyes and looked around the borders of the port, only to notice that the background was full of trees.

"Perfect." She grinned and hopped off the building onto the ground. She ran back to Hitomi and smiled happily.

"Well?"

"This place is surrounded with trees, so it's perfect." Yukino smirked. "Hurry lets go." She headed off as Hitomi followed behind.

* * *

"Ok, so you just push and pull the water, right Katara?" Aang asked a teenaged girl standing next to him as she poorly demonstrated her waterbending moves.

"Yeah, like that." She smiled cheerfully. "I wish we had a bigger source of water though." She sighed.

"Will you guys hurry up? I thought we came here so that Appa could get a drink of water. But how can he when you two are pushing the water up his nose every time he tries to take a drink?" Sokka pointed out, a little bit of irritation in his voice.

"We're almost done. I just want Aang to understand how to push and pull the water." Katara argued back, crossing her arms as she glared at her brother. "At least I'm trying to help Aang. What have you done?"

"I'm happily taking care of Appa while Aang is in water world." He turned around, giving her the 'hmph' sort of tone.

"Speaking of animals, where's Momo?" Aang asked, looking around to notice that there was no trace of him.

"He must be looking for food. He'll be fine." Katara reassured.

* * *

"So what do you want to do after we change?" Hitomi questioned as the two approached the forest.

"Not sure. I just want to get out of this uniform for once." Yukino sighed in relief. The two continued to walk into the forest but halted to a stop when a flying lemur stood in their path. It sat there holding a stick while it picked at a caterpillar with amazement.

"A flying lemur?" Hitomi looked down at the fury creature. "I thought they were extinct when the air nomads died out."

"Who cares! He's so cute!" Yukino smiled greatly as she inched her way closer to the small animal. "Hey there little guy." She bent down and held out her hand for him to sniff. The flying lemur, aka Momo looked at her with confusion as she stuck her hand out at him. He was about to run when he saw Hitomi's shiny dagger case hang off her side.

"I think he likes me." Yukino beamed when Momo crawled over by her feet. He quickly climbed up her legs and up to her shoulder's, but hopped off to Hitomi and climbed down to her belt. He snatched the dagger and jumped off into the air to spread out his wings.

"What the-!" Hitomi growled. "That lemur took my dagger!" She yelled out.

"Aw, he likes you." Yukino laughed.

"I'm going to get you, you none innocent animal!" She quickly sprinted off in the direction Momo took off while Yukino trailed behind.

* * *

"All right, lets pack it up." Sokka said as he gathered their supplied together. "We need to keep moving if we want to get to the northern water tribe."

"We can't leave without Momo." Aang said.

"Oh come on, he'll be fine out here in the wilderness, its his native habitat anyways." Sokka motioned them to get on the bison.

"Sokka, Momo is apart of our family." Katara glared at him with her hands on her hips.

"Its time for him to be a man!" He raised his arms in the air when he shouted that. Suddenly Momo rushed into the scenery and dropped the dagger into Aang's hands.

"Momo! Your ok!" The small boy cheered but looked down to see what the lemur had dropped. "Momo, where did you get this dagger?"

The bushes behind the gang began to rustle loudly. "Oh man… Momo, your not getting dinner tonight." Sokka cried when a fire nation soldier popped out.

"Give me back my dagger you two winged hair ball!" Hitomi shouted in anger as she raced toward the small boy with the lemur tied around his neck.

"Fire nation!" Sokka screamed, quickly pulling out his boomerang and readied his weapons.

"Get away from Momo." Aang guarded the small creature.

Yukino quickly rushed out of the bushes quickly catching her breathe as she looked around her settings to see two water tribe siblings and the avatar. "Man, she can run fast when shes angry…" She mumbled under her breathe.

"Give me back my dagger otherwise I'll unleash a whooping on your behind." Hitomi ignored the small boy and glared directly at the lemur.

"Hey, Hitomi! Calm down!" Yukino shouted and began to make her way over but water whipped out in front of her to block her path. "Whoa." She turned to see where the water had come from and saw Katara in a fighting stance.

"Not one step closer or I'll freeze you." Katara warned.

"Wait, you've got the wrong picture." Yukino took another step forward and Katara flung water flying at her. Yukino quickly stepped to the side as the water flew past her and flopped to the ground. "Oh come on. That was weak!" She examined the girl. '_She must be a beginner_.' She thought to herself.

* * *

"Momo didn't do anything wrong so back away." Sokka warned as he ran up from behind Aang.

"That rat stole my dagger! It was given to me by my father!" Hitomi argued.

"Momo would never steal, right?" Aang turned to look at the lemur who's ears bent down like he did something wrong.

"Wrong. He snatched it from me and flew off." She snapped.

* * *

Katara flung more water at Yukino sloppily, unable to control her bending.

"Will you stop throwing water at me!" Yukino yelled out and quickly bended all of the water that was thrown everywhere into solid ice. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at her as she turned the ice into water, causing it to dissolve into the dirt.

"You're a waterbender?" Katara asked stunned.

While Aang wasn't looking, Hitomi snatched the dagger out of his grasp and quickly hugged it.

Yukino sighed and pulled the rubber band out of her hair. Brown locks fell down her back as bangs covered her forehead. "Yes I am. I'm water nation as well as Hitomi."

Aang examined her and gasped when he remembered his encounter with her from Kyoshi Island. "Your that girl that helped me out!" He broke the silence and pointed at her.

"Hey look, your that bald avatar kid." She pointed back at him. "Let us change and we'll explain everything." She quickly grabbed Hitomi by the collar and ran into the bushes.

* * *

"Can we trust them?" Sokka asked. "Their both wearing fire nation armor. Suspicious…" He felt uneasy.

"That girl is a waterbender though." Katara pointed out.

"Well whatever the reason, she said that she'll explain." Aang spoke up with confidence. They all looked over at Yukino and Hitomi who were now fully dressed in their water tribe clothing that they had worn before on Kyoshi Island.

"All right!" Sokka blurted out. "Start explaining!" His face became emotionless when his eyes came across Yukino and a sudden blush took over his face.

"You better show some respect toward Yukino." Hitomi growled at the boy.

"Why?" Aang and Katara questioned.

"Who I am is not important. Well actually, it is, but that's besides the point." Yukino sat down on a nearby log. "You all must be wondering why we're dressed up as fire nation soldiers."

"Well yeah! You had us all fooled! I mean, I could have hurt you both." Sokka kept interrupting.

"Oh believe me, no you would have not." Hitomi smirked.

"Anyways, tell us whats going on." Aang said and looked at Yukino.

"Well, I traveled from the northern water tribe to a earth kingdom port. I attacked a fire soldier and took his uniform and thus it was somehow a perfect fit. I then boarded Prince Zuko's ship, and have been traveling with him under a false identity, as well as Hitomi." Yukino took in a breathe.

"But why? Why risk your life and work with the fire nation?" Katara asked.

"Why? Because I plan on messing up every plot Zuko has, and I plan on taking out Fire Lord Ozai once and for all. I'm tired of this war, tired of fighting for peace, and that man must go down." Her voice snarled when she said her last sentence.

"But what about Aang? He's here now and he'll end the war." Katara pointed at Aang.

"Hey now, he can't have all of the action. Lord Ozai has destroyed many of my people's lives and mine as well. I want revenge."

"Wait a minute…" Sokka disrupted the conversation again. "You came from the Northern water tribe, you said who you are _is_ important, you can waterbend, your beautiful, and you said 'your people'," He paused for a minute and looked at Yukino. "You must be of royal blood!" He burst out.

"Are you?" Aang and Katara looked at her with confusion.

Yukino sighed again and looked at the three. "Genius boy over there got it. My name is Princess Yukino of the water nation, heiress to the throne to rule the water tribe."

"It is an honor to be in your presence." Aang stood and bowed to her as well did Katara. "I still don't understand why you would leave your people." The small boy pondered.

"As long as no one finds out, then I am fine."

"If you're a waterbender, why don't you stay with us and teach Aang how to waterbend, that way, we don't have to fly all the way out there, and it gives us more time for him to learn how to bend the other elements." Katara suggested.

"Unfortunately, I can not stay up on the offer. Your mission is to get Aang to the northern water tribe, there you'll be greeted by my Aunt Tsubaki who will lead you to Master Pakku. He is a waterbending teacher who will show you everything." Yukino said.

"Will he teach me too?" Katara looked at her anxiously, wanting to learn how to waterbend really bad.

"He's not so much into teaching girls how to waterbend. He believes woman should use their bending for healing, not for fighting. You'll have to convince him that your worthy enough to be taught."

"Are you sure you can't stay with us?" Aang asked.

"I'm sorry, but my mission is to stay with Prince Zuko and have him lead me to the fire lord so I can rid of him forever. If you ever have any encounters with Prince Zuko, Hitomi and I will be there to help you escape." Yukino grinned.

"Anyways, you guys should head off, Prince Zuko's crew is scavenging the entire port for girls for a party tonight." Said Hitomi.

"Stay low though… once someone sees you guys, he'll be right behind you." Yukino advised. "We're going to go now. Its our vacation time away from that ship. I wish you all the best of luck."

"Thank you Princess Yukino." Aang bowed once more. Yukino and Hitomi stood up and began to make there exit.

"Princess Yukino?" Sokka asked from behind.

"Yeah?" Yukino turned around to see a bouquet of flowers being held to her face by him.

"I picked pretty flowers…" He spoke like a child would as he gazed at her.

"I can see that." She backed away to look at him.

"I mean. I found these flowers and thought they looked pretty like you. There're for you." He looked away blushing. "From me."

"Thank you." Yukino smiled and took the bouquet. "Your cute, I'll give you that." She blew him a air kiss and walked off with Hitomi.

Sokka stood there in shock. His face turned bright red and he fell back with hearts forming in his eye. "What a woman…" He laid on the ground with a huge smile on his face.

"Sokka, your hopeless." Aang stood over him, shaking his head.

* * *

"Nice bouquet." Hitomi snickered as the two walked out of the forest into the port.

"Shut up Hitomi." Yukino turned to give her the evil eye. "I only took these because I felt bad for him."

"Sure, whatever you say."

"Bah! Your just jealous because you didn't get flowers."

"Oh yeah, I'm jealous all right." Hitomi rolled her eyes.

"Excuse me young ladies." A man said from behind the two.

"Yes?" Yukino turned around and gasped when she saw Yusuke standing behind them.

"Would you two be interested in coming with me to a special event taking place on the prince of the fire nations ship?" He asked uninterested in this hunt.

"Sorry, not interested." Yukino smiled and turned back around. "Right Hitomi?"

"Right, we've got things we _girls_ got to do for our _girlyness_." She laughed.

"Thanks anyways!" Yukino had a firm grip on Hitomi's arm and quickly sped walked away. "That was close…" She sighed after the two had turned a corner out of Yusuke's view.

"Just a bit." Hitomi also sighed in relief.

"Oh no…" Yukino snatched a wanted poster that was posted on the wall next to her.

"What?"

"Look." She held the posted up to Hitomi and she gasped. The wanted poster was a picture of Yukino. Nothing important was posted on it about her being a princess, just a poster that said her name and a detail description of her appearance. "Not good." She looked up and saw a earth kingdom soldier posting them out.

"What are we going to do?" Hitomi asked. The man looked over at the girls and looked back at his posters.

"Hey you!" He shouted at Yukino.

"Shoot." She muttered under her breathe. She turned around and made her way back the way they came from. "Follow me!" Yukino ran off with Hitomi following close behind, as she made her way through the streets.

"Where are we going?" Hitomi asked. Yukino ignored her and found what she was looking for. She ran in front of Yusuke with her head down.

"Hey. I've reconsidered your offer. We'll go." She spoke softly. The earth kingdom soldier was making his way down towards the group when she looked up.

"Well now, I thought you two would come back." Yusuke grinned.

"Lets go." Yukino tried pushing him to go, but he took his time.

"Hey you two!" The soldier yelled again.

"Is that earth kingdom soldier after you girls?" Yusuke asked. Yukino panicked and looked up at him. He was looking at the man who was approaching them. She grabbed his face and turned it to he was facing her.

"You help me and I'll help you." She pulled his head down and she quickly locked her lips with his. Yusuke's eyes widened with the sudden love fest but he went with it, unsure what to do.

"Oh my Yukino." Hitomi blushed. "Who would have thought you were that type." The man approached the group with confusion.

"Is there a problem soldier?" Hitomi asked.

"No, I just thought she looked like someone." He kept a steady watch on the two kissing.

"No no, these two are a couple. How could she be a wanted someone that's been sitting in her house waiting for her lover. She's just so glad that her husband has come back to her." She lied. Yukino broke the kiss and looked down, quickly giving him a hug.

"Oh honey, I've missed you so much. Don't ever leave me again, now we can finally have children." Yukino horribly acted out.

"I guess you two have my blessings. Happy birth giving." The earth kingdom soldier turned around and walked away to continue his duty.

"We are not having children." Yusuke looked down at her. "And that kiss was uncalled for."

"I don't plan on having children at my age and you are not going to be the father of my children." Yukino crossed her arms and looked up at him. "I didn't even want to kiss you, but I had to make it convincing. Kissing fire nation is the last thing on my to do list of my life."

"Now now, we best be off now." Hitomi grabbed Yukino's arm and began to pull her away.

"Wait a minute, we had a deal. Your both coming with me." Yusuke grabbed their arms, yanking them towards him.

"He's right, we should go with him…" Yukino mumbled. "Hiya!" She shouted, quickly turning around to send her foot flying at his neck. Yusuke let go of Hitomi and used his hand to snatch her foot before she could do any damage on him.

"Your quite feisty aren't you? Now be a good girl and come with me." He pushed her foot down.

"Looks like I don't stand a chance against you." She pouted. Hitomi stood there while the two argued. She was debating whether or not she should run or just stay and not get him even madder. She came to the conclusion to just be a good girl and go with the flow.

"Your wasting my time now, lets go. I helped you now your helping me, whether you like it or not." Yusuke growled. His grip on her arm tightened, causing her to wince in pain.

"Fine. I'll go… just don't hurt me. I'm very fragile…" Yukino moaned.

"Just to make sure you don't try to run." He slid his fingers to her neck and quickly gave her a tight pinch into her skin.  
"Hey! What are you doing to her?" Hitomi demanded when Yukino flopped to the ground.

"She's just unconscious, she'll be fine." Yusuke bent down, sliding his arm under her and lifted her over his shoulder. "Lets go."

"Now _that_ was uncalled for." She glared at him.

"I don't want to chase after her, so this is for the better." He said, leading the way to the ship.

* * *

"Yusuke! I said not to kidnap them!" Iroh came running out of the ship when Yusuke had arrived.

"I didn't. She made a deal with me and then tried to escape out of it. I only did what I had to do." Yusuke sighed.

"Well since you put it that way, to the practice room!" The old man cheered, motioning him to go inside the ship. Yukino moaned when she heard Iroh. Her eyes slowly opened and then widened when she realized she was hanging over a shoulder.

"Where am I? Whats going on?" She demanded.

"Oh, your finally awake." Yusuke continued walking.

"You can put her down now." Hitomi nudged his arm.

"I'll pass, we're almost there anyways." He denied. Yukino pouted and didn't even bother to try to escape from his grasp. "We're here." He slid her off his shoulder and pushed the two into the room crowded with girls and quickly shut the door behind the two.

"Man he was rude!" Yukino finally spoke out and looked at Hitomi.

"I have to admit it, you did deserve that." She laughed. The two looked at the room and saw all of the girls laughing and having fun while they got dressed.

"Wait a minute. Why are these girls laughing? They should be cowering in fear that their on a fire nation ship." Yukino said in shock.

"Maybe this is exciting for them?" Hitomi suggested.

"Ah! Two more! Right this way ladies!" An older woman came up to the two and grabbed their wrists.

"Hey now, what are you doing?" Yukino asked while she was being dragged across the room.

"You must get dressed. We only have so little time for the two of you." The woman said and pushed the two behind a curtain. More maids awaited them with material, clothing, jewelry and make up.

"Well now, we have such a nice bunch of beauties." One of the maids complimented.

"Listen, we're not supposed to be here. This is all a huge misunderstanding." Yukino pleaded.  
"Nonsense. Your in the right place." Another maid said as she reached for her clothing.

"Ladies, get to work." The old woman from before appeared with a grin on her face. The maids began to smile and jumped at the two, ripping off their clothes.

"No!" Hitomi gasped. She wasn't used to this at all. She was so used to being the one to rip the clothing off and doing their job.

"Be brave Hitomi!" Yukino cried out as the woman surrounded them completely, working at them from left to right.

After the woman had completely stripped Hitomi of her water tribe clothing, they bandaged up her chest with a red cloth. A green Yukata was placed over her body with the sleeves that cut off at her elbow. Yellow fabric was bordered around the Yukata which helped tie down the sleeves so they didn't hang loose. A red long piece of cloth was placed in front of her with golden flowers at the bottom of it. Everything was held together with a yellow sash that wrapped around her body and a green ribbon which was tied in the middle of the sash.

"We're almost done." One of the maids said. "Now your hair, make up and jewelry." She smiled.

"What should we do with her hair?"

"I know!" One of the woman yanked the tie out of Hitomi's hair causing her red hair to fall down past her shoulders. "Ooh, it has such a nice shade. Why not leave it down and place a flower pin in her hair?"

"That's perfect." A green and gold flower pin was placed on the side of her bangs, which matched her outfit. They finished her up with red eye shadow, tons of eye liner, blush and to top it all off, red lipstick.

"Oh, jewelry time to end it all." The maid said. She grabbed a gold bracelet that had small emeralds going around it and a small emerald ring. They put a green choker around her neck and placed a ruby on the front of it.

"She's perfect!" They all stood back to admire their work.

"Is it over yet…?" Hitomi cried when they all backed away.

"Ok, your done, out you go." They grabbed her and pushed her out of the curtain.

* * *

Yukino on the other hand wasn't giving up without a fight, and neither were the maids. The only thing they accomplished so far was her hair, which was decided to be pulled up with her bangs hanging down.

"Will you just participate for us!" Shouted a maid angrily.

"I shouldn't be here!" She argued back.

"We don't care! All we want is to get you done and over with."

"Bah! I don't care about you either!" Yukino glared. She accidentally left her guard down and the maids quickly jumped on her, pinning her down on the floor. "Why me!"

* * *

"So, how the are girls coming along? Its going to start soon." Iroh sat at his tea table, sipping his tea with the old woman from before, sitting on the other side also drinking tea.

"Everything is almost perfect." She sighed.

"Almost?"

"We've got this one girl… who is giving my girls quite a hassle." The woman sipped her tea and looked at the old general.

Iroh chuckled. "That sounds like my nephew. He will not give up without a fight."

"But don't worry, she is the last of your young ladies, so everything will be ok on time." She smiled.

* * *

"Ha ha! We're almost done with you." A younger maid declared. Yukino already had her make-up done and was half dressed.

"I hate all of you!" Yukino snarled. She already had a short strapless light blue under dress laying on her body. All they had to do next was to slip over a dark blue Kimono.

"No matter what… your going to get this on!" She was yelled at. The maids held Yukino tightly as one of the girls quickly slid the kimono over her. The kimono cut off at her knee's and was all held together by a light blue sash that tied up into a large bow in the back of her. Her sleeves hung off her hands over an inch longer. The sleeves were decorated with light blue water marks the went up the sleeve.

"Now here's your shoes." A maid through a pair of dark blue sandals at her.

"Hey! Watch where your throwing those." Yukino growled, slipping the shoes on her feet. She was given a blue fan to match her outfit.

"You put up a good fight, yet we are the winners. We made you even more beautiful!" They all shouted and pushed Yukino out of the curtains.

* * *

"Now, that wasn't that bad, was it?" Hitomi smiled, admiring her princess.

"Shut up." Yukino mumbled. The older lady called attention of all of the girls, and they became quiet.

"Now then, you are all wonderful looking. Tonight, you may find love of these fine men. Yes, they are of fire nation, but I have spoken with some of them, and oh! I must say, if they weren't so young, I would take them all for myself!" She growled playfully. "Anyways, your task is to have fun with them. Dance, talk, do whatever you please. Maybe one of you may win the heart of the prince himself." She winked. The girls giggled, now determined to be that one girl.

"Looks like you've got some competition Yukino." Hitomi whispered with a nudge.

"What!" She blurted out. Everyone turned to stare at her and she quickly apologized. "They can have him for all I care." She glared.

"Right, admit it. You've got some feeling for Prince Zuko." Hitomi laughed.

"I'm warning you." Yukino turned away to listen to what the older lady was saying.

"So, I'm going to leave you off through those doors and your on your own."

All of the young girls gathered around the double metal doors, awaiting them to open. Music could be heard from the other side, as well as voices of men. The girls were squealing with joy, getting impatient.

"Ready Yukino?" Hitomi nudged her once more.

"I guess I have no choice then. No turning back now." Yukino sighed. The doors began to creak and they slowly began to open. "How did I get myself into this…?"

End of Chapter 8

* * *

Yes! I finished chapter 8. Even though this isn't how I planned on it ending. I actually wanted to keep going, but I knew that it would take me much longer. And its been quite a while since I've posted up a chapter. Hope you enjoyed! 


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